Fans might look at UFC Fight Night 32’s Cezar Ferreira vs. Daniel Sarafian matchup as “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil” final that never happened. Sarafian doesn’t, despite losing out on his shot at that honor due to injury.

“It’s not a final,” Sarafian said through an interpreter. “The final is part of the past. We just have to look to the future now. This is a fight against ‘Mutante.’ It’s no longer a finale.”

Sarafian and Ferreira each reached the finals of the debut season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.” However, injury forced him to withdraw from the event, and Sergio Moraes took his place in the finals. Ferreira went on to beat Moraes and claim the tournament win. There was some thought that Sarafian would make his official debut against Ferreira, but he instead faced C.B. Dollaway this past January and then Eddie Mendez in June.

Despite his near miss, Sarafian said he always considered Ferreira the unquestioned winner of the reality series.

“I do consider that he deserved it,” Sarafian said. “He won it. He is the champion because he got to the final. Unfortunately, I couldn’t fight there. He did it. He deserved it. It’s not his fault that I couldn’t be there.”

But now, the two have finally been matched up, as they meet in the co-main event of next week’s FOX Sports 1-televised UFC Fight Night 32 event at Goiania Arena in Goiania, Goias, Brazil. Sarafian said he always anticipated the booking but hasn’t focused too much on it during his time since the show.

“It’s not something that I’ve always been thinking about, wondering if it’s going to happen,” Sarafian said. “It’s always been in the back of my mind. It’s not something I’ve forgotten. I knew it was going to happen one day, but it’s not something that controls me and dominates what I’m going to do or whatever. But it’s always been in the back of my mind.”

Ferreira is a slight favorite in the bout, according to oddsmakers, as he was when the two were initially expected to fight. But the 31-year-old Brazilian believes it’s an entirely different fight than it would have been more than one year ago.

“I think I’ve evolved a lot,” Sarafian said. “I’m much more experienced. I have more technical skills, so I think it’s going to be a much better fight than it would have been a year ago.

“I have no doubt that he’s going to come very ready. I’m also going to be very ready because I’m always ready. I think it’s going to be a very good fight, but I’m going to do my best and go after the victory. I’m going to fight to the end.”

It’s an important night for Sarafian. With a win, he would potentially be viewed as the rightful winner of “TUF: Brazil” and would be 2-1 in the UFC and 6-1 in his past seven total fights. With a loss, he would be 1-2 in the octagon and fall into relative obscurity in the UFC’s middleweight division.

Sarafian said he’s not focused on the stakes but rather just gunning to put on the best show possible as he follows his dreams.

“I always think of this as a step-by-step process, where I need to climb,” Sarafian said. “Obviously a victory is much more important because that helps you take a step forward and upward, but I think the most important thing is to make a good show for the crowd. If the crowd is happy, that obviously makes management happy, and that’s the way I see it. I think we have to go out there and give a good show and make the crowd happy.

“Obviously a victory is better, but sometimes we have to remember that winning and losing isn’t always in our hands. This is MMA, and anything can happen, but we need to try and put on a good show.”

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